BSP retains Dumariyaganj seat

The ruling Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) today retained its Dumariyaganj (Sidharthnagar) assembly seat by defeating the BJP by a margin of 15842 votes. Of the total 24 assembly by-elections held during the last three years the BSP won 21 seats.

Significantly the Peace Party, which has been striving hard to establish itself in Eastern UP, this time succeeded in pushing the Samajwadi Party’s Kamal Yusuf Malik and Congress’ Ashok Kumar Singh to fourth and fifth place respectively.

The seat had fallen vacant following the death of BSP MLA Malik Taufiq. His widow Begum Khatoon Taufiq succeeded in retaining the seat for BSP by defeating the BJP’s Prem Prakash alias Jippy Tiwari.

The emergence of Peace Party at third place has certainly created consternation in SP and Congress. Bharatiya Samaj Party led by Om Prakash Rajbhar and Janwadi Party headed by Sanjay Singh Chauhan had extended support to Peace Party’s Sachitanand who secured 26336 votes.

“We are trying to give alternative but due to some organizational constraints could not effectively reach the people”, Peace Party chief Dr Ayub Ansari told HT.

During the last two years Peace Party had been making efforts to widen its base in Poorvanchal. It had contested 2009 Lok Sabha election from Dumariyaganj and Khalilabad in which the party 66000 and one lakh votes respectively. Of late Amar Singh has also extended support to the party.

Expressing satisfaction over the party’s performance, the BJP president Surya Pratap Shahi told Hindustan Times “Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s charisma is on the wane”. While accusing the BSP of massive misuse of the power, Shahi said fifth position to the Congress had given enough indication that the party was in shamble in the state.

The Congress leaders too are shocked over the debacle. The UPCC spokesman Subodh Shrivastav said, “apart from sympathy factor for the BSP candidate, some local conditions were also not favourable to the Congress”. But the party did not expect such a result, he commented. Shrivastav said even Peace Party got secular vote. He said the election had also taken communal colour pushing the BJP to second place.

Interestingly a blame game has already started in the UPCC. While one section has accused the Congress president Rita Bahuguna Joshi for poor performance, her supporters have laid blame at the doors of the Congress MP from Dumariyaganj Jagdambika Pal.

Shocked over humiliating defeat the SP spokesman Rajendra Chaudhury criticized the BSP for misuse of government machinery to win the election. “We will review the situation”, he added.